


A little easier

by Quillfiend



Category: League of Legends
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-07
Updated: 2019-11-07
Packaged: 2021-01-24 14:47:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21339973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quillfiend/pseuds/Quillfiend
Summary: Somebody watches over Shen as he pursues his next target.
Relationships: Ahri/Shen (League of Legends)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 16





	1. Chapter 1

He may not have been a spirit or a vastaya, but all the years walking the otherworld had sharpened Shen's senses beyond those of any mortal. It was how he was able to pick up on the trail of another creature hunting his current target. Somehow it was too far ahead or behind him, but he couldn't spot it. He just knew it was there. That _she _was there.

The demon he was hunting didn't care much for concealing its tracks. It was a large, proud beast, as cunning as it was cruel. Else it would've hardly bested an entire squadron of Noxian soldiers.

Pursuing it felt wrong. Shen tried to focus on his duty, but he could not get the memory of Akali out of his head. She looked at him with anger, disappointment, disgust. He failed her, like he had failed Zed. Still he pressed on, because their war was not his, and because every enemy he stalked held the promise of peace eternal. Shen did not fight to find his own death, but were it to come, he would accept it without protest, content to depart.

The demon was close enough for Shen to smell it now, and his focus shifted towards his spirit sword. He drew the beautiful, deadly instrument and leapt out of the brushes concealing him up until that point, straight at the golden beast ahead. Its radiant fur almost blinded him, reflecting gentle rays of sunlight into his eyes; his vicious slash found its target, but it was less deadly than Shen had hoped; it only rid the monster of a thick tuft of fur. The demon roared and swung its heavy tail, but the strike was far too slow to catch Shen off-guard. He rolled underneath it and prepared to strike again, but in that moment another figure emerged from the undergrowth; the fox sorceress wasted not a single second and hurled her azure flame orbs at the golden creature, scorching its horrendous maw. Shen took advantage of this distraction, dashed around the creature and buried his gleaming blade in its flank. The demon howled as it desperately tried to put out the fire, but the witch was relentless in her assault, cooking it alive as Shen skewered it with his ethereal sword. Soon, there was nothing but cinders and blood left of the once-majestic monster.

„I have caught your attention,“ Shen noted whilst staring at the slain demon, not a hint of emotion in his voice, „why?“

Recalling her azure globes, Ahri's gaze followed his, pinned on the dark carcass. „She was a great huntress. We owe her the honor of a last rite.“

They stood in silence for a moment, until Shen finally nodded.

„So be it. Let us build a pyre, then.“


	2. Chapter 2

They stood before the golden flame burning away into the night and watched the dying cinders, both strangely content within that somber moment. Respect - especially when given to a great foe - was something they both understood, and their mourning needed no words. Not before the ash had all but scattered.

„I saw your memories,“ Ahri finally gave him the answer he craved, „when you were dying. I wanted to know more of your story.“

Shen didn't know what to say.

„It's so heavy, heavier than anything I'd ever felt. You try to bury your soul beneath your duty but it is your sorrow that is crushing you.“

„We all have a path to walk,“ Shen's tone was hollow, numb, „this is mine.“

„Perhaps you do not need to sacrifice the entirety of yourself for its sake.“

„Perhaps I want to.“

She stepped closer, the dying flame illuminating her amber eyes. When she took his hand, he could feel hers was still warm from the fire. „Forget for a moment. Live for yourself.“

„I cannot.“

„Cannot, or do not want to?“

„_Both.“_

It felt so painful admitting it. He drew a sharp breath, overcome by a sudden wave of grief, of emotion. It was so frightening that he let go of the fox that instant.

„I appreciate your help here,“ he said, once again poised and cold like a stone gargoyle, „but we must part our ways. This is my destiny, my legacy. One day you will understand.“

He moved his fingers to draw the symbol of spirit motion, ready to walk through space and far away from his companion. Something stopped him however; a warm sensation in his chest, a lulling spell that paralyzed him and left him unable to complete his incantation. His mind was slipping, and the last thing he'd heard was the fox' mischievous laughter.


	3. Chapter 3

Shen was not a man of many words. He did not speak before he had a clear understanding of the situation around him, and sometimes not even after - not when he'd felt his words would change nothing. After he woke from his magical slumber, it took him a single glance to know that asking for reasons and explanations was futile - and unnecessary. A hot spring bubbled peacefully around him, and he felt something he hadn't in a very long time: the tender touch of another living being. Ahri sat behind him, her legs wrapped around his waist, and toyed with his dark hair like she would with a tangle of soft threads. Shen tilted his head backwards to look up at her and shot her a quizzical look.

„You're my prisoner now,“ she said, smiling, „at least for the evening. Do not even try to run - there is no escaping me.“

„I guess I'll just have to accept my fate, then.“

He felt the same relief he did when he was dying in a forest pond, entirely at her mercy. To be helpless meant giving up his painful road for a moment. And now, with both of them bare and so close to one another, he was doubly glad to be the fox' prisoner.

She was no cruel jailer, either. When he kept looking up at her, she leaned down to grace him with a gentle peck, a kiss he would remember forever. In that moment, life was a little easier. A little less heavy. A little better.


End file.
